"Putting the referee back at the centre of the match and using VAR as exceptional support, limiting its intervention to cases of clear and obvious error": that is the philosophy set out by Daniele Orsato, the new head of the national Serie A and Serie B commission, for the new season of Italian referees. He said it at the end of the pre-season training camp in Cascia. "The legacy of the World Cup," Orsato explained, as reported by ANSA , "is that we saw how the central figure was the referee. And we want that to remain the central figure, that he makes the decisions and VAR intervenes when it has to intervene." He added that the approach follows international guidelines: "Uefa and Fifa have reiterated the concept of clear and obvious error". It is not, however, a case of announcing any revolution, according to the former international referee. "I would not say we have any new developments," Orsato argued, "we must not make any proclamations.
AFP"You will certainly have read the new regulatory changes that have been introduced: we saw them at the World Cup and we will apply them. They are Ifab guidelines, Fifa implemented them at the World Cup, Uefa will implement them in its competitions and in Italy we will apply them too." The aim is also to build referees' personality, confidence and ability to read the game.
"We have worked a great deal on understanding the dynamics of the game," Orsato added, as reported by ANSA, "referees always study the rules, but this week we worked to understand the dynamics and to have the confidence and credibility of players and coaches on the pitch." "VAR is an exceptional support," he reiterated, "but it will intervene when it has to intervene, in the case of a clear and obvious error".
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